It's Funny What Life Does to You
by juuri-93
Summary: It's funny what life does to you... you can hate someone your whole life and then suddenly fall in love, how or why is a totally different matter. Lily Evans is entering her final year at Hogwarts, a year the is certainly going to be remembered. JxL SxOC
1. A New Title

**A/N: **I began writing this over two years ago and I thought that I should start to upload it. However, this was before I got my macbook so it's all in a book which means i have to type it. God I was awful at spelline :P

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It was a very lazy summer's afternoon, most of the inhabitants of Willow street were outdoors making the most of the cool breeze that swept down the road and through the park. Children were laughing and playing, while their parents and neighbors sat talking, sipping at icy drinks, desperate for some relief from the unusually stifling heat. However, the daughters of Number Ten were no-where to be seen.

Seventeen year old Lily Evans lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and listened to the muggle children outside. It was late August, which meant that she was still on summer holidays from school. Lily had retired to her bedroom for the afternoon, due to a lack of substantial entertainment and was now contemplating the removal of her trace, which prevented underage wizards ad witches like herself, from performing magic outside school. It had been only days ago that hers was lifted and despite the amazing freedom now available to her, Lilly was yet to discover a more exciting use of her magic than assisting her mother with household chores.

Suddenly, Lily was roused from her daydreams by a gentle taping on her window. She sat up, and looked over to see two owls, one black, one barn knocking gently on the glass. She hurriedly got up and walked over to let them in. The first, she knew to be Sasha, who belonged to Lily's best friend Jana, the second, she recognized as one of the many school owls. Taking the letter that was tied around Sasha's foot, Lily opened the envelope and started reading.

_Dear Lily,_

_A school owl just arrived with my book list for this year and I expect one is on the way with yours._

_Did you want to meet me tomorrow at Diagon Alley around noon to get our things?_

_Send a reply back with Sasha_

_Love,_

_Jana_

She had not seen Jana since the end of term and had been hoping to see her soon. Turning the note over, Lily scrawled a quick reply and tied it once more around Sasha's outstretched leg. The owl hooted appreciatively and flew out the open window.

Now turning her attention to the school owl, Lily walked over and removed the letter it held. Ruffling its feathers, the owl followed Sasha and flew out across the street, disappearing into the distance. Lily sat down on her bed again and opened the letter, which was bulkier than usual. Unfolding the first piece of parchment, she read;

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as head girl for the coming school year. Enclosed you will find your badge, to be worn on the left collar of your school robe, as well as the usual list of supplies._

_My Sincerest congratulations,_

_Minervra McGonnagle – Gryffindor Head of House_

Lily couldn't believe it. She hurriedly picked up the envelope sitting on her bed and tipped it upside down. Sure enough, out fell a shiny badge featuring the Hogwarts crest emblazoned with the words _Head Girl. _She stared at it for a short while, still taking it in.

Lily wondered who the head boy would be. If she was completely honest, there were not many possible candidates. The only one she could think of was Remus Lupin another Griffindor student with whom she had become good friends. With good grades and a friendly disposition, Remus seemed the obvious candidate. In fact his only shortcoming, in Lily's eyes at least, was his unfortunate choice of friends. James Potter and Sirius Black, two students who's company she had never enjoyed, rarely left Remus alone, meaning that times when he and Lily could talk privately were few and far between. Over their six years of magical education together, Lily had continually rejected James' numerous romantic advances. If she could say nothing else for him, she could say he was persistent.

"Lilly!" her mother's voice came from down-stairs, "dinner's ready!"

Grabbing her Hogwarts letter and head girl badge she exited her room, closing the door carefully behind her and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. She approached the table to find Petunia already seated and glaring pointedly past her. Lily ignored this reception and turned to face her father.

"My Hogwarts letter came just now," she said to him.

"That's wonderful dear," he replied, "so you have your booklist?"

"Yes," said Lily and with a sideways glance at her sister she continue, "I also got this," she handed him her letter and badge.

Mr Evans took the letter and began to read, eyes widening as he did so.

"You're the head girl?" he said to Lily positively glowing with pride.

"Yeah," she replied, beaming. She chanced a look at Petunia wore an expressions appropriate to that of someone who was waist deep in manure.

"Do you know who the head boy is?" Mr Evans continued, unaware of his eldest daughter's obvious distaste at the situation.

"Not for sure, but I have an idea," Lily replied.

At that moment, Mrs Evans entered the room with a large pot of stew and began to serve it around the table.

"Look at this," said Mr Evans, handing Lily's letter and badge to his wife.

"Oh Lily!" Mrs Evans exclaimed, running over and hugging her daughter.

Her parents were looking at her with such obvious pride that Lily almost felt bad for her sister, who still sat staring sulkily at her bowl.

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**A/N: **Can someone (form England) help me with ideas for food... PLEASE - in the orginal copy of this story i've left spaces where I was supposed to fill in the food so yea... HELP. Also I know that the timelines with Lily's birthday don't work so i dont wanna hear about that - the whole 'school starts halfway through the year' thing is weird to me. Please rate and review.


	2. Head Boy

**A/N: **Here is chapter two, as promised. It's a little longer than the first one. Enjoy :)

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The next morning, lily woke early, so she could get ready for her trip to diagon alley with Jana. She dressed quickly and walked out into the hallway where she quite literally bumped into a still half asleep Petunia.

"Morning," said Lily with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"Why are you up so early?" demanded her sister.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley to get my school things," she replied.

"Oh yes and how are you planning to _get_ to London?" Petunia said sceptically.

"Well there's the flu network," Lily considered momentarily, then remembering the removal of her trace she added, "or I could apparate."

"What?"

"Here, I'll show you," Lily concentrated on a point further up the hallway and turned on the spot. There was a loud crack as she disappeared for a moment, before re-appearing several feet away with another crack. She then repeated the movement so that she was back, standing in front of her sister.

"I can do that and appear anywhere in the country," Lily told her, then thinking for a moment she added, "I can take you along too if you want a try,"

Petunia looked for a moment as if she was tempted to take Lily up on her offer, before abruptly scowling and turning to storm angrily into her room. "You're a freak," she said, leaving Lily standing, suddenly alone in the hall.

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Several hours later, Lily appeared with a crack in a dimly lit pub in London. Checking that she hadn't splinched, she took a seat a table nearby. Suddenly, there was a great whooshing sound as the fireplace erupted in flames. As Jana was to be arriving by floo powder, Lily turned in the direction of the sound to see the tall, lanky form of Remus Lupin step out. Turning as he brushed himself off, he spotted Lily and smiled. They were good friends, but rarely had the chance to talk.

"Hello Lily," he said pleasantly, walking over to her. Remus was tallk and slim with sandy-brown hair that hung neatly around his face. He wore battered robes that had patches of slightly different material in places that they had been repaired. His face, which Lily considered to be the kindest she knew, seemed to carry the worries of a much older man.

"Hi Remus," Lily said cheerily, "Good summer?"

"Pretty good," he replied, "you got head girl didn't you?"

"Yeah, but you're head boy, aren't you?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"No, actually I didn't," he said.

"Then who…" Lily began, but before she could finish, the figures of two more boys appeared in the fire place. James Potter and Sirius Black. Standing up, the brushed themselves down and surveyed their surroundings.

James was around the same height as Remus but had jet black hair, which he purposefully ensured, never lay flat. His hazel eyes, framed by round, black rimmed glasses were focused on removing the soot that had accumulated on his expensive black robes. On the collar of which, Lily now saw, was pinned a head boy badge, not dissimilar to her own. His face, which even Lily could not deny was handsome, showed all the self-obsessed superiority and arrogance that he was famed for.

Sirius was slightly taller than the other two, and wore the same haughty expression as James. His hair, also black, was shoulder length and hung with a casual elegance, framing his face. His eyes, were the same grey as his robes, which he wore open, over a black shirt and jeans.

The two young men spotted Remus across the room and walked over to him, then James, recognised Lily at his side.

"Hey Evans!" He called loudly and several people in pub turned to look at him.

Sirius, who had been inspecting himself in the mirror behind the bar, looked around at James' call and smirked, shaking his head.

"Potter," she said, attempting to express all the distaste she felt toward him with nothing more than the word.

"Ah yes, I thought you'd get the badge too," he said, following her gaze to his own.

"Who says I did?" she asked him fiercely.

"Well, who else would?" James replied, "hey this means we'll get to spend more time together… alone."

"Seeing you from a distance is almost more than anyone could bare. I don't know how you two do it," she said, turning to Remus and Sirius who had been watching the conversation with interest.

"So how many teachers did you have to bribe to get head boy anyway Potter?" Lily asked, returning her attention to James.

"Ha! Was that a joke Evans?" he said with feigned astonishment.

At that point, there was a whooshing sound in the fireplace as it erupted once more into green flames and Jana emerged, slightly singed and coughing. Spotting Lily she began to speak, but stopped when she saw James, Sirius and Remus.

"Lily?" she asked cautiously, "sorry I was late, Mum made me clean my room before I left."

"That's fine Jana, I was just leaving. I hope I don't see you again any time soon Potter, bye Remus. With that, Lily grabbed hold of Jana's arm and stormed out the backdoor of the pub. As the left Lily thought she saw Sirius wink at Jana, who subsequently turned bright red.

"What was that about?" Jana asked once they were out side.

"He's head boy!" Lily was fuming, "of all the people Dumbledore could have picked, he chose Potter! Why? He wasn't even a prefect!"

"Calm down Lil," Jana said, placing a hand on Lily's shoulder. Let's go get something to eat, then we can get our school stuff and go back to your place. Is it still ok if I sleep-over 'till school starts?"

"Yeah, it's fine," said Lily, taking out her wand and tapping the appropriate bricks on the wall in front of her. Immediately it started to change, and the two girls watched as the bricks moved back into place to form the entrance to Diagon Alley.

The two girls stepped through the newly formed archway and into the crowded cobblestone street. All around them, witches and wizards were going about their shopping, chatting away to friends or anyone who would listen. Young children stood staring in shop windows at everything from spellbooks to cauldrons and the latest brooms. However, the thing that separated Diagon Alley most from muggle shopping districts, were the hundreds of owls perched on buildings, in cages and flying overhead.

Lily could not help but smile. Diagon Alley was her favourite place in the world, after Hogwarts.

"Before we eat, I need to go to Gringotts to exchange my muggle money," she told Jana.

"That's ok," Jana replied, "I have to get some out too."

So they headed down to the far end of the street, where Gringotts stood. It was easily the grandest building in the street, made entirely of white marble and towering above all the other shops.

"I'll go to the exchange while you go to your vault," Lily said to Jana once they had entered the bank, "meet back here in fifteen minutes. With that the two grils parted ways, Jana heading for the counter marked withdrawals, while Lily walked to the muggle exchange. As she approached, the gobblin behind the counter looked up.

"Yes." Its said, rather grandly.

"Um, hi," said Lily, goblins were among the only creatures that made her nervous.

"I want to change some muggle money."

"How much?" it enquired, looking down at her.

Lily handed over the fifty pounds that her parents had given her and received the collection of gold galleons, silver sickles and bronze knuts.

"Thirty galleons, 7 sickles and 13 knuts," said the goblin in a rather bored tone.

Lily thanked him and walked back to where she was to meet Jana.

Approaching the entrace once again, Lily found herself, not for the first time, in awe of the bank's beauty, of the hundreds of witches and wizards who bustled around her. The tiny goblins, proud and stubborn, going about their business, and she once again wondered what it was about her that made her fit into this incredible world. What it was inside her that made her differenct from Petunia, who wanted so desperately to be included. Lily had sometimes wished that it had been her sister who was the witch, simply because she herself wouldn't have minded, then perhaps, if it was Petunia who was part of this world, they could have remained friends. Suddenly, Lily was startled by the appearance of Jana at her side.

"Ready?" her friend inquired.

Shaking off the last remnants of her day-dream Lily replied with a smile, "Let's go shopping."

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Four hourse and seventeen shopping bags later, Lily and Jana arrived back at number 10 Willow street, their coin purses considerable lighter than when they had started. It was some time before they could escape to the quiet of Lily's room, as an overly enthusiastic Mrs. Evans badgered them after all the details of their escapades in Diagon Alley. Eventually, the girls were able to retreat up the stairs.

"You're so lucky to have a room all to yourself!" Jana exclaimed, falling onto Lilly's bed."

"Yeah, but at least your sister's tolerable," said Lily, sitting next to Jana, "imagine having to share a room with Petunia."

At that moment, there was a loud crash as something smashed through the window, shattering it all over the floor. Alarmed by the sudden noise, Lily went to inspect the damage and repair the window.

"What is it?" she asked Jana who had picked up the object.

"rock," she said, unimpressed, "Oh wait, there's a bit of paper too." Unravelling it, Jana read aloud;

_Lilly,_

_I saw you in Diagon Alley today, but I didn't get a chance to say hi and I heard you talking about getting head girl. That's great! I'm really please for you. But I also heard that Potter got head boy, Hogwarts must really be going to the dogs, I can't imagine what Dumbledore was thinking. Even that Lupin would have been a better choice. I know you're still mad at me, but I want to be your friend again, I miss you. Please reply._

_Love,_

_Sev._

Lily had looked increasingly horrified as Jana read down the page, but it was nothing to how she looked now. She snatched it back and read it through again, her scowl only increasing further with each line. Then suddenly, in one swift movement, Lily scrunched it up and set it alight with her wand tip. Watching as the paper shrivelled and burned in mid air, she turned to Jana who stared back, concerned.

"Lil?" she asked cautiously, "Lil, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Lily replied, with a slightly glazed look in her eyes.

"Is he stalking you?" Jana continued, trying desperately to restore her friend's previously cheerful demeanour.

"Sounds like it doesn't it?" she laughed, looking relieved at the chance to smile.

"Are you going to reply?" Jana asked.

"What do you think?" Lily said, incredulously.

"No?"

"Your powers of deduction are astounding," Lily replied, sarcastically. Jana laughed.

"Girls!" Mrs. Evans called from downstairs, "get ready for dinner please."

Jana rose and headed downstairs, Lily close behind her, but she couldn't help thinking that she would _have _to deal with Severus when she went back to school, though that was weeks away.

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**A/N: **Please review, the next chapter will be up soon.

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	3. The Train

**_Authors Note:_ I'm sooooo sorry that this took so long! See I lost the book I wrote it in, any-who, enjoy!**

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The next morning, Jana and Lily both woke early so they would not be late and miss the train to Hogwarts. When the two girls went downstairs, fully dressed and ready to go, they found Mr and Mrs Evans, already there, with breakfast on the table. Petunia on the other hand, had yet to emerge from her bedroom.

"Wow, this looks great mum," said Lily, sitting down and pouring drinks for herself and Jana.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs Evans," said Jana, her eye on the plate of bacon.

"Help yourselves grils, "Mrs Evans told them, "I'm going to get Petunia our of bed." With that, she left the room.

"Are you two sure you don't want me to drive you to the station?" Mr Evans asked from behind his newspaper, he had yet to grasp the concept of apparition.

"No, really Dad, it's fine," said Lily, she was getting tired of explaining, "it'll be quicker if we apparate."

"Alright then," he shrugged, turning back to his newspaper.

Fo several minutes, no one spoke, Jana and Lily were immersed in their breakfast and Mr Evans in his newspaper. Mrs Evans eventually re-entered the room, followed, at a distance, by a very sulky looking Petunia.

"Hi Tuney," said Lily upon seeing her sister, "look foreword to having the house to yourself again?" Petunia didn't answer. Instead, she glared pointedly past Lily and reached for her plate.

"You two had better go and bring your trunks downstairs," said Mrs Evans after a little while, "or you might be late."

"Relax Mum!" Lily replied, unconcerned, "it will literally take us three seconds to get to the station."

"Even so, I would like you to get there early," her mother continued.

"Alright Mum," Lily conceded , "com on Jana."

It only took them a few minutes to check that they had everything they needed. So once Jana had fished a sock from down the back of the bed and, with Lily's help, jammed her trunk closed, they returned to the kitchen.

"it's probably time we got going," said Lily, once she had set her trunk leaning against the wall.

"Alright then, " replied Mr Evans, running over and giving her daughter a quick kiss and a hug. "have a safe trip, and send me a letter as soon as you arrive.

"Have a good year," said Mrs Evans, embracing Lily, "We'll see you at Christmas."

"Bye Mum, Dad," Lily said smiling, before uncertainly turning to her sister, "See you Tuney," she said, "have a good year, I want you to send me letters all about what you get up to, okay?"

"Bye Lily," Petunia whispered, almost to herself before abruptly turning and leaving the kitchen. Lily wasn't sure that she would be receiving any news from her sister, but she dearly hoped she would.

"Goodbye Mrs Evans, Mr Evans, thanks for everything," said Jana

"No problem dear, anytime," Mrs Evans replied.

"Okay, now we really do need to get going," Lily said, beginning to get impatient.

Lily turned to Jana, who put one hand in hers and the other on the handle of her trunk.

"See you," she said finally, before turning on the spot, and with a loud crack, Lily, Jana and their trunks disappeared. For a second or two, Lily had the uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a long tube, as she passed through nothingness. She could not see Jana, or her trunk, only feel them in her hands. She was just about running out of air, when the squeezing sensation stopped abruptly and she appeared with another loud crack, alongside Jana in a discreet corner of Kings Cross Station. As it was quarter to eleven already, the two girls agreed to go straight to the train.

They walked along the platform that granted access to trains nine and ten and were surrounded by muggles who looked both tired, and harassed as they ran to catch their trains to work. At last, they came to the appropriate spot on the wall. Being sure to look as inconspicuous as possible, the two girls leaned against the barrier and fell straight through and onto platform nine-and-three-quarters.

This platform, was every bit as crowded as the one they had just left and it looked much the same as the others. Except of course, that this platform was full of witches and wizards, and in place of the humdrum trains in the muggle station was the scarlet Hogwarts Express, looking just as grand as ever, with grey smoke billowing from its engine.

"Well, there it is," said Lily, who loved the sight of the engine.

"Yeah, and just think, this is the last time we'll be on this platform, boarding the train," jana sighed, she, like Lily, like all Hogwarts students, thought of the magnificent castle as a second home.

"Well yeah, it is for us, but when I have children, nothing's going to be able to stop me from seeing them off, " said Lily as she pushed her trunk aboard. "Com on, let's find a compartment."

As they walked along the train, Lily and Jana noticed that many of the compartments were empty. This was most probably because of their early arrival, as most of the school's inhabitants preferred to jump aboard at the very last minute. However, Lily had a sinking feeling that many of the students would be kept home by their parents due to the war.

"How about here?" asked Jana, as they came to a stop in front of the second last compartment.

"Looks good to me," Lily replied, attempting to stow her trunk, with some difficulty, in the overhead compartment.

"Need some help?"

The voice from the door behind Lily, but she didn't need to turn around to know who it belonged to.

"I can manage perfectly well by myself, thanks Potter," she said sourly.

"I know you can, but we need you to be in one piece for our meeting with the prefects," James continued, stepping past Jana, who slipped out mumbling something about finding her sister. He took the heavy trunk from Lily, placing it easily in the storage compartment.

"Now, wasn't that easier?" he asked, turning to face her so that he was only a few inches from her. Lily glared daggers at James, who looked back at her with a stunning smile, seeming extremely pleased with himself.

Suddenly, there was a great woosh of smoke as the train lurched into motion and Lily, who had not been expecting the movement, toppled foreward, knocking James onto the bench seat and ending up sprawled across his lap. However close they had been to each other before, it was nothing compared to now. There was something in the stead rhythm of his breathing that kicked Lily's heart into overtime. However, looking up at James' face, the over-confident smile that he wore annoyed her.

"Well, this is nice isn't it?" he said laughing as a knock at the door caused Lily to leap to her feet. The prefects entered the compartment, some looking embarrassed, others giggling, Remus brought up the rear, trying to hold back a smile.

"Hello," said Lily who felt herself blushing, "er… come in."

"Hi!" James greeted them enthusiastically, still looking exceptionally pleased with himself.

"Is this everyone?" Lily asked, doing a quick head count.

"I think so," one of the prefects said, covering her giggles with her hand.

"Ok, let's get started," said Lily, "I will try to be as brief as possible so…"

James laughed, "you can try, but I don't think you know how to be brief." Lily was used to James' jibes, but the tone with which he said it was not the same as usual and she thought she saw Remus shake his head slightly at James. She brushed it off.

James' comment had brought a few more giggles from the prefects, but at the sharp look Lily gave them, they soon fell silent.

"Firstly, when we arrive at Hogwarts, it is your responsibility to find out what the password to your house common room is, your head of house will have that information for you." Lily mentally checked this off on the list of topics she had to cover.

"Secondly, for some of you this is your first year of being a prefect, I can tell you that you are permitted to used the prefects' bathroom, this year the password is-"

"Do I get to use it too?" James cut in, sounding impressed.

"Yes Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes at him, "you too."

"That's awesome," he exclaimed, smiling at her.

"As I was saying, the password is 'Cherry Blossom,' girls times are 4 o'clock until 6 o'clock, and boys, 7 til 8."

"What happens if someone goes when it's not their time?" asked James with a smile that made the Seventh Year Ravenclaw prefect look as if she might faint.

"It is open at all hours, but I think you're suggesting that someone goes in when it isn't their time?" Lily clarified, with a nod from James she continued, "that sort of behaviour is not allowed, and would be reported to a Head of House immediately and might I add Potter, that only _you_ would so such a thing."

"I'm hurt that you think so!" said James, who clasped his hands to his chest in feigned shock.

"Now then, can I please continue?"

"You may," said James, who sat down casually on the seat and gave Lily another of the smiles that others found irresistible, but only infuriated her.

"Alright then, finally, here are your timetables for patrolling the train," she handed out the sheets of parchment to all the Prefects, "the head boy and myself," she indicated to James, "Will e checking that you are doing your duties, and if not, you may be issued a detention. That's you as well, Potter"

"Sorry Evans," he said, "hate to disappoint you, but detentions hold no fears for me anymore, I've had that many."

"That's exactly my point!" Lily snapped before she could stop herself, "I have no idea why you of all people are Head Boy! You've broken every rule there is, and some that hadn't been thought of until you came along! I can't believe that Dumbledore would put you in such a position of responsibility, you have none! You act without the slightest thought of the consequences, but you think that it's alright because you're James bloody potter aren't you? The fantastic Quidditch player who is _far_ superior to everyone else, you don't even need to be Head Boy, you think you rule the castle already! Well let me tell you something Potter, I'm not going to put up with any of your crap this year! Ok?"

Lily finally stopped and took a few deep breaths. The prefects had long since scarped away for safety, with the exception of Remus who stood patiently outside the door, waiting. Lily looked at James, who was masking his feelings as well as any boy, but she could see through his defences to a hurt and she realised that she must have crossed the line between insulting his public face and insulting who he truly was. Inexplicable, Lily thought. She had yelled at him many, many times before, but never had he seemed bothered by it. For several long minutes, a silence spread through the compartment, until finally, James spoke, but what he said lacked his usual confidence.

"I'm sorry, I'll go."

It was a whisper, but it surprised Lily more than a shout ever could have. With that, he stood and left the compartment, much like a dog with its tail between its legs. He and Remus walked away, down the corridor. Lily felt horrible, she didn't know exactly why, she had meant every word she had said, yet somehow, finally telling Potter exactly what she thought of him was not as gratifying as she had thought it would be.

Just as Lily decided to forget the entire incident, she thought vaguely of going to find Jana, and as if by some mental connection, she appeared at the door.

"I saw Potter just now," said Jana, sitting down opposite Lily.

"Did he look okay?" Lily asked immediately

"er… yeah, why?"

"Oh nothing, don't worry about it," Lily replied smiling. It sounded like James had recovered from her insults, externally at least, but she couldn't help but feel that he was still wounded by her words.

"Tell…" Jana pressed. Lily explained the events of the prefects meeting..

"oh don't worry Lil, you spoke nothing but the truth and its what the rest of us have been dying to say to him for years."

"Yeah but I still don't feel any better," Lily replied, un-consoled by Jana's remarks.

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**_Authors Note: _This chapter and the next were originally one, but I decided it would be too long if I kept it that way. Please rate and review!**


	4. Fights and Feasts

"It's your turn Lil," Jana prompted yet again after waiting several moments for her friend to place a card. The girls had begun a game of exploding snap, though Lily only played half-heartedly. Jana couldn't for the life of her understand why Lily was so upset.

As the afternoon wore on, Lily began to feel more like herself again, she laughed and joked with Jana for amny hours. The sun began to set outside the train and the scenery had long since changed to rolling grassy green hills. The sky, which was now a deep shade of magenta, seemed to stretch on for miles.

They were not very far now from their destination, the station of the small wizarding village of Hogsmede, situated just outside the boundaries of the school grounds. From their third year onwards, students were permitted to visit the village and the various attractions it provided, from excellent sweets and joke shops to bars like the Three Broomsticks and the Hogs Head and even the shrieking shack, which was reputed to be the most haunted building in Britain. Lily recalled with some fondness, the day in their fourth year that she and Jana had watched as Sirius ad James forced a Second Year Student, Eliza Knight, to go right up and touch the door. Poor little Eliza, who has scared at the mere thought of the house, made it all the way up to the doorstep before fainting. Sirius and James had then walked away, almost killing themselves laughing, leaving Remus with the job of retrieving Eliza.

Lily stared out the window or the train, and suddenly realised that dusk had fallen, which meant that they would soon be at their destination.

"We'd better get changed," Lily said, turning from the window to face Jana.

With this, the two grils busied themselves in their trunks, retrieving their uniforms, which consisted of a white blouse, dark grey skirt, knee high white socks with black shoes, a tie striped with the gold and scarlet of Gryffindor and a large black robe that bore the Hogwarts crest on the left pocket. Lily, who had finished before Jana, was trying to get her head girl badge to sit straight, just as the train began to slow. Now fully dressed, the pair stowed their trunks in the overhead shelf (the house-elves would bring them up later) and exited the compartment.

As they stepped off the train, the two girls became part of the crowd, now thronging toward the carriages that would take them to the castle. Lily was doing her best to take charge of the situation, by pushing her way to the front of the pack and attempting to make the crowd line up and wait for the carriages in a odrely manner whcn she noticed a small first year girl surrounded by a gang of much older Slytherine students. The girl, it was easy to see, was extremely frightened, and sson began crying.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" shouted Lily, abandoning her attempt at traffic control, and making her way over to the group

"Oh look!" cried one of the Slytherines, "it's little Miss Evans, what are you gonna do? Cry on us?" this only made Lily angrier, but as she advanced toward the group, she realised just how much bigger than her they really were. As the Slytherines began to move closer, and Lily began to wonder how she would get out ofthi alive, someone called out from the crowd.

"Oi! Dickhead! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" James had suddenly appeared on the scene, distracting the Slytherines for long enough that Lily was able to direct the first year to where she ought to go, before turning back to the situation.

"Slytherine scum!" James shouted, not caring much that all the students nearest them had turned to watch, "so cowardly that you can only fight eleven year olds and girls!"

The group turned away from Lily and advanced toward James. When they drew level, it was easy to see that the Slytherines were vastly bigger than James, but it was his reputation for duelling rather than his size that made them cautious.

"That's right Potter! Come and save your little whore!" one of them taunted, but the second the words had left his mouth, James had him up against the wall, wand at his throat.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't dispose of you here and now." James said through gritted teeth.

At this point, Sitrius appeared at his side.

"He's not worth it mate," he said to James, quickly assessing the situation. At these words, James began to turn away, but then swivelled around quickly, catching the Slytherine between the legs with his foot.

With that, James and Sirius left the Slytherine curled up on the ground, walking toward the carriage, Lily coming behind them.

"I didn't need your help Potter," she said, more out of guilt for the way she had treated him.

"What? Would you rather have been jinxed off the face of the planet?" he asked, not looking at her.

Lily had no respone to this, as she knew he spoke only the truth. Then Jana, who had missed all the action, appeared at Lily's side.

"What happened?" she asked breathlessly trying to keep up with Lily, who was, in turn, trying to keep up with James, "one minute you were there and then you were gone."

"Some Slytherines were bullying a first year," said Lily simply as the four Gryffindors arrived at the carriages. There was only one carriage there, more would come soon. However, Lily didn't feel like waiting. So she walked straight past James and Sirius, who had stopped to look for Remus, and climbed up into the carriage, as did Jana. It was just about to move off, along the winding track that lead to the castle, when James, Sirius, Remus and Peter Pettigrew all jumped inside. Jana, who had been sitting opposite Lily quickly shifted so that three of the boys could sit together, while Remus, apologizing greatly, took a seat to Lily's left.

"Can't wait to get to the castle!" exclaimed Sirius suddenly, "I'm starving."

"Sirius, you ate six packets of Bertie Botts on the train," said Remus with a slight smile, " how could you possibly be hungry?"

"I know I am," added James with a yawn, "but it looks like we'll have a while to wait yet."

"Don't forget the sorting ceremony," said Peter, who was much shorter than the other three, though nearly twice as round, with small black eyes and a tangle of sandy-blonde hair.

"Why do they need to do that?" asked James, "All they have to do is chuck all the first years in the lake, the ones who save as many others as they can and then tackle the giant squid bare handed go in Gryffindor, the ones that use seventh grade standard spells to save themselves are for Ravenclaw, the ones who try to get themselves out jinxing anyone who gets in their way belong in Slytherine and the ones that just sit there and sink go in Hufflepuff."

Sirius snorted, "good one Prongs." Remus looked at James sternly, but Lily could see that the corner of his mouth was twitching.

"James…" he said

"Yes mum?"

Peter, Lily noticed simply sat beaming at them all.

"I hope you won't behave like this when you're carrying out your duties as Head Boy," Lily said calmly, looking James straight in the eye. He fell silent. Several awkward glances passed between Remus and Sirius. Jana shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I…" It was the first time Lily had ever seen James lost for words. He looked at her in silence, his hazel eyes staring deep into her own as though he were staring into her very soul. For the second time that day, she wished that she hadn't spoken.

"We're here." Remus broke the silence several minutes later as the carriage arrived at the door to the castle and its occupants clambered out. When they reached the great hall, a warm and familiar sight greeted their eyes. The four house tables, at which many students were already seated, ran the length of the hall. At the opposite end to the doors through which they had entered, was the staff table where most of the teachers sat, watching as the students gathered. Around the hall, the while, translucent forms of the house ghosts floated absentmindedly under the high arched ceiling, which was charmed to resemble the sky outside.

Lily looked around beaming, _I'm home_, she thought. She walked over to the Gryffindor table and took a seat with Jana opposite their fellow Gryffindor Seventh Year girls.

"Lily! Jana!" a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair shrieked.

"Hi Maddie," said Lily, reaching over and hugging her.

"Have a good summer?" asked the girl to Maddie's left.

"Great Tiff, how about you?" Lily replied.

"Not too bad. Hey! Charlie!" she added as another girl came and sat beside Lily.

"Oh Lil!" Charlie shrieked, looking at Lily, "you got Head Girl!" this revelation caused yet another fit of shrieks from the Gryffindor girls.

"But who's Head Boy?" Maddie asked, "is it Remus?"

"No, actually," said Lily, "It's Potter."

The group fell silent.

"You're joking aren't you?" Tiffany asked.

"Afraid not," Lily replied solemnly.

"I think he is as surprised as we are," added Jana. All five girls turned to look up the other end of the table to see James displaying his badge for all to see, boasting to anyone who would listen.

"Oh Lily, this means that you get to spend more time with him!" said Tiffany, "I'm so jealous!"

"Don't worry Tiff, I'm not going to go out with him," replied Lily, she and Jana were the only Gryffindor girls who did not find James' tousled appearance and Quidditch skills attractive.

"I wish he would ask me out," sighed Maddie, "he's so handsome." Tiffany and Charlie agreed but Jana shook her head.

"You girls can have him," she said smiling, "I want Black."

"_Really _Jana? You and Lily are pretty much the only girls he hasn't been with. I mean he's dated _first years_ for goodness sake! The man is a sleazy womanizer." Tiffany, being Sirius' most recently discarded love interest was still bitter on the subject.

Jana didn't get the chance to answer as that moment a long line of scared looking first years were lead into the hall by Professor McGonagal. As they reached the front of the hall, they stopped and huddled together for safety. Professor McGonagal detached herself from the group and placed the mangy old hat she was carrying on a three-legged stool. For a few seconds, all was silent as the older students, who knew what was coming waited with anticipation. Then suddenly, a tear near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth and the hat began to sing.

_Long ago before this time_

_Before years were recorded_

_The founders of our noble school_

_Whose efforts were applauded_

_Spent their time and efforts teaching_

_Those who were young of mind_

_They educated fair and true_

_No better scholars could you find_

_All students were accepted_

_Each founder chose the best_

_The ones who only they would teach_

_Who they thought beat the rest_

_Gryffindor, he chose those who_

_Were great and brave of heart_

_Ravenclaw selected some_

_Who were capable, witty and smart_

_Slytherine would only take _

_Those of pure and noble line_

_Hufflepuff, she didn't care,_

_She taught all she could find._

_And so the school continued on_

_For many, many years_

_Till doubt crept in and suspicion grew_

_Which made the founders fear_

_And wonder what would happen_

_When they, themselves passed on_

_So Gryffindor, he gave his hat_

_Gave it gifts of thought and song_

_So here I am and I will choose_

_Where you rightly go_

_I'll take a look inside your head_

_And see what virtues show_

_So come sit down and try me on_

_I'll find what's in your heart._

_But we all are getting hungry_

_So hurry up let's start!_

There was an outbreak of applause as the sorting hat fell silent. Professor McGonnagle stood up and said loudly to the first years;

"When I call your name, come forward and be sorted.

"Abbot, Tyler" a small boy with dark brown hair stepped forward and placed the hat on his head.

"Hufflepuff" the hat cried to the immense applause of the Hufflepuff table.

"Arthur, Brigitte" this time a small girl with large round glasses stepped up.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Is it over yet? I'm starving," Lily could hear Sirius whisper to James further up the table.

"Barnicot, Jason"

"Won't be long now mate," said James in reply

"Slytherine"

"Chandler, Tori"

"Gryffindor"

"What do you mean it won't be long?" Sirius asked incredulously, clapping along with the rest of the Gryffindors, "they're not even half way through yet!"

"Grace, Rachel."

"Slytherine"

"Shh!" Remus scolded them both, Sirius replied silently, with his middle finger shamelessly raised.

The sorting continued like this for what seemed like forever.

"Klesting, Jason"

"Slytherine"

"Linche, Kara"

Jana leaned forward eagerly awaiting the sorting of her sister.

"Gryffindor"

The Gryffindor table applauded loudly, and Jana relaxed back into her seat as her sister came and took a seat opposite her.

"Greene, Sara"

The small girl who Lily and James had saved from the group of Slytherines stepped forward.

"Gryffindor."

Sara got up happily from the stool and skipped towards the Gryffindor table. Beaming, she took a seat next to Lily.

"Hi!" she said, turning to face Lily, "you're the one who saved me from those Slytherines aren't you?"

"Sort of, I ended up needing saving myself," Lily replied, "but right in the essentials, my name is Lily, Lily Evans."

"Mine's Sara," she replied rather needlessly, as she had just been sorted. Lily smiled and turned back to the sorting just as Zillmane, Alexander was sorted into Slytherine.

Professor McGonnagle retrieved the hat and stool, just as Professor Dumbledore stood.

"Good evening everyone, and welcome to another school year. I know that you will all be eager to get into the feast, so I will be as brief as possible."

"Read my mind," Sirius muttered to the amusement of the Gryffindors within earshot.

Dumbledore continued, not noticing the interruption, "For our new students, and some of those who need reminding," he glanced towards the Gryffindor table where Sirius and James grinned, "the Forbidden forest is so named for a fairly obvious reason that I'm sure I don't need to explain. I also advise you to steer clear of the whomping willow," Remus joined Sirius and James in their grin, "a detailed list of forbidden items is available outside Mr Filch's office as always, if there is anyone who needs or wants to read it."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen," remarked Sirius, much louder than he had intended, causing a ripple of laughter throughout the Great Hall.

Dubledore smiled, "thankyou for that insightful contribution Mr Black. Now then, business is finished, so let's eat."

"Finally!" groaned Sirius and James together.

Dubledore clapped his hands together, and the four house tables filled with food.

"wow," said Sara simply.

Lily smiled, "tuck in."

Everyone was so hungry that for a long while, no-one did anything but grab every variety of food within reach. Jana in particular, who had a larger appetite than the other Seventh year girls, had a rather precariously balanced selection of food on her plate. After a while, the chat gradually began again.

Lily was engaged in a rather interesting conversation with Sara, who explained that she was muggle-born and found the whole situation in which she now found herself quite overwhelming.

"don't worry, I'm muggle-born too, you'll get used to it very quickly," Lily reassured her.

"By the way you're welcome for me saving you before." James had suck up behind Lily, Jana and Charlie. Without any of the girls noticing it seemed, the marauders had migrated down the table, as James and Sirius were now sitting next to Lily and across from them, Peter and Remus.

"Who are you?" asked Sara rather indignantly; Lily was liking the small girl more and more.

"We're the marauders! I'm James and this is Sirius, Remus and Peter," he said , indicating to himself and each of his friends in turn.

"Why do you call yourselves that?" the first year inquired, "are you some sort of boy-band?"

Lily, Jana, Tiffany, Maddie and Charlie al burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter that was so loud, it drew the stares of many students as well as staff around the hall. Sirius snorted, spraying pumpkin juice all over Peter who looked as though he was used to having Sirius' food thrown at him, inadvertently or otherwise. James snickered and even Remus chuckled.

"No," Lily eventually managed to say, still laughing, "they have the record for most detentions ever, they are always in trouble or doing something they're not supposed to. Come to think of it, it's mostly these two," She indicated James and Sirius, "but they all get blamed.

"Oh, sounds like she's got us all figured out, hey Prongs?" laughed Sirius.

"Ok, yeah, that was true before, but not this year," James said with enough sincerity that Sirius stopped laughing.

"What do you mean, not this year?"

"I mean that I'm not going to mess about this year, I'm taking school more seriously, for once. Don't worry, we'll still help Moony out with his 'furry little problem," he added at the concerned glance Remus gave him.

Sirius was silent. James turned to his friends, worried how they would take this news, silently pleading for them to understand. Sirius opened his mouth to speak and laughed. James looked confused, wondering if Sirius had finally lost it.

"What the…"

"Honestly Prongs! You expect anyone to believe that you can change just like that?" Sirius snapped his fingers for emphasis, "you're addicted to trouble, you can't go cold turkey, you'll go into withdrawal or something."

James glared at Sirius, who continued to smirk just as the plates on the table were replaced with dessert.

"Why are you discouraging him?" Lily challenged Sirius. She wasn't sure that she believed that James could change either, but the fact that his best-fried had such little faith in him annoyed her.

"Sounds like a bet to me Evans…" Sirius said slyly, "I mean, you and I both know that Pr- James here _likes _making trouble, but if you want to go against the obvious…"

This was true and Lily knew it, so instead of answering, she busied herself with the pudding in front of her.

"You like him don't you? That James boy I mean," whispered Sara in Lily's ear.

"No I don't," she whispered back, wondering how anyone could think such a thing.

"Sure," Sara winked at Lily, before taking a mouthful of tart.

Lily turned to look at James, he and Sirius had begun a debate as to who the best Chudley Cannons player was. She stared into the face of the boy, practically man now, whom she ha always loathed with such a passion and for the first time, part of her stopped to ask why.

'_Because he's an obnoxious, pompous and loud-mouthed git,'_ another part of her replied.

'_Yes but if he wants to change who's to say he wont?'_

'_His record of the past six years!'_

"It's getting quite late and is high time you all went to bed," Dubledore's voice interrupted Lily's internal argument, "off you go, first years follow your prefects to your dormitory, sleep well everyone."

With this final word, every student stood almost simultaneously and began to move toward the entrance hall.

"First year Gryffindors follow me," it was not Lily who spoke, nor Remus, who would have been the next most likely person, it was James. Lily was quite taken aback. Her first reaction was that he and Black must have cooked up a scheme to lead the first years to some remote corner of the castle, duck behind a tapestry and leave them there. She glanced sideways at Jana who looked almost as concerned.

Lily followed James and the small group of first years closely, as they came to the entrance hall, where the mass of students divided, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw going up the stairs, Slytherine, down to the dungeon and Hufflepuff along the corridor that lead to the kitchens. Despite her concerns, Lily found that in just a few mintues, they were standing in front of the fat lady's portrait that granted access to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password," the fat-lady said. The first years looked expectantly at James.

"Oh shit," he said, obviously offending some of them, "I don't know what it is."

"Honestly, Potter," Lily said, hiding a smile and stepping to the front of the group, "moonbeam."

"Welcome home everyone, said the portrait invitingly, swinging forward to reveal the common room. Lily didn't think that a more comfortable place existed. A warm fire raged in the stone grate, which was surrounded by an assortment of armchairs and couches. Tables and chairs were dotted around the rom, alredy covered with a clutter of books and parchment. The walls were decorated with a variety of tapestries and gold and scarlet banners, on which the lion of Gryffindor roared. Lily turned to the first years.

"Girls dormitories are upstairs and down on your right, boys on the left, your trunks will already be in your rooms, have a good night everyone."

With this, the first years departed, hurrying to see where they would be sleeping for the next seven years of their lives. The older students however, lingered, talking, laughing, sitting and generally enjoying a night together, free of homework. It had been a long day for Lily and the memory of apparating out of her kitchen with Jana seemed as though it had happened years before.

"Lil!" Jana was calling from across the room as she climbed the stairs to their dormitory, beckoning for Lily to join her. Lily crossed the room and soon joined Jana in their old dorm, the door to which now read 'Seventh Years.'

The familiar four-poster beds greeted her eyes. Maddie stood across the room, arranging her things on her bedside table. Charlie knelt on her bed, braiding Tiffany's hair and Jana was next to her trunk, retrieving a clean uniform for the next day.

"Hey Lil!" Charlie called, "what do you reckon? I think we should decorate this place! I mean more than usual, you know? Go all out with Gryffindor banners and scarfs and things." Charlie loved decorating, in previous years they had gone with themes like the Holyhead Harpies and the Weird Sisters.

"Sounds good," Lily laughed, walking over to her trunk to change into her pajamas.

The chatter lasted long into the night, so much seemed to have happened in the few months the five girls had been apart and so much needed to be said. It was three in the morning before Lily, glancing at her clock, declared that they needed to get a least a little sleep. However, she lay awake for a while after the others, her mind still lingering on the promise James had made at the dinner table. As far as she could tell, there was nothing different about him this year, or at least nothing that should allow her to feel anything but distaste for him. She supposed that only time would tell her if he had truly changed and if he was worthy of a second chance.

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**_Authors Note: _Sorry it was so long! Please rate and review, and tell me what you thought of my attempt at a sorting-hat song.**


	5. Potions Partner

**Author's Note: Right so it's been FAR too long since I uploaded a chapter of this... but good news everyone! I've already written the next chapter and just need to type it :D so it will be up shortly!

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It was eight o'clock before anyone in the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory stirred. Lily, who normally never had a problem waking up early, was the first to emerge from her four-poster bed. Walking over to the window, she stared out at the beauty of the dew soaked grounds, oblivious to how late it was. That is until she glanced down at the clock on Maddie's nightstand. Breakfast ended in fifteen minutes.

"Wake up!" she called to the silent dorm, but when nothing happened except that a moaning sound came from somewhere within Jana's bedclothes, Lily walked briskly around the room, yanking the covers off the four girls' beds.

"Whatizzit!" Tiffany yelled, suddenly blot upright in bed.

"Get up! It's eight o'clock," said Lily as she did up her tie in front of the mirror.

"Holy-" Maddie, Tiffany and Charlie all leapt out of bed and scrambled to get changed. After several minutes moaning, Jana too began to dress.

Ten minutes later, the senior Gryffindor girls entered the Great Hall at a run. Taking a seat at the table, Jana managed to grab a piece of toast before the many platters and serving bowls disappeared.

"Damn," said Jana, mourning the loss of a substantial breakfast.

"Evans!" James called to Lily, walking towards her from where he had been seated further up the table.

"What is it Potter?" she asked as he came to a halt in front of her.

"You're late," he said. Searching for some hidden meaning, Lily was ready to launch into a long, reprimanding speech as to why he was the last person on Earth who should make accusations of tardiness. However, before she could open her mouth he added, "I'll get you some breakfast if you like."

"I… how were you planning on doing that?" this was not what Lily had been expecting and she was quite taken aback by it.

"Come with me," he said. Warily, Lily and the other girls followed James as he walked back out of the Great Hall. They had just come to the entrance hall when Sirius came running up behind them.

"Oi! You didn't think you were going to get more food without _me_ did you?"

James just grinned at his friend and led the group through the door to the right of the main staircase. They followed this corridor, which Lily had never been down before, until they came to a painting of a bowl of fruit.

"Sirius, would you do the honours?" James asked, bowing to his friend and gesturing toward the painting as though he were a butler.

"I'd be delighted, James my good man," Sirius replied. Smirking, as he stepped forward, he tickled the pear in the fruit bowl, which began to giggle, and before their eyes, turned into a door handle.

James pushed the newly formed door open, "After you, ladies."

The girls stepped cautiously through the portrait into a room the same size as the Great Hall, which Lily now realised was directly above them. Like the hall, four tables ran the length of the room, but where the staff table would sit, an enormous stone oven rose to the ceiling. Hundreds of house elves ran about the room, cleaning away the remains of breakfast and beginning to prepare the day's lunch.

The manner with which James and Sirius strode forward, in a streamline for the back of the room, made Lily suspect that they had been here many times before. This theory was only supported by the cries of the house elf who greeted them.

"Mr James, Mr Sirius!" exclaimed the small house elf, who was wearing a tablecloth like a poncho.

"Hello Zenda," James said so politely that the little elf blushed, "my friends here, (he indicated to the Gryffindor girls) woke up late and missed breakfast, but it's our first day of Seventh year, as I'm sure you're aware, and I really don't think they should be going to their lessons on empty stomachs. Do you think it would be too much trouble for you to fix them something to eat? I know you're working very hard as it is, but…"

"Oh no Mr James! It would be no trouble at all! We would be delighted to make something for your lady-friends. For Mr Sirius as well?"

Sirius nodded, "you know me too well Zenda."

The elf beamed, "anything for you, Mr James?"

"Oh, no thankyou Zenda, I'm alright. Breakfast this morning wad delicious by the way."

Zenda blushed an even deeper shade of scarlet, "Thankyou! I won't be long at all!" with that, she hurried off, giving instructions to several other house-elves as she went, and busied herself over a vacant stove. Within five minutes of their conversation, Zenda had returned to James and the others, who were now seated at one of the tables, carrying plates laden with food.

"Thankyou very much Zenda," said James, smiling again. The elf blushed once more and scurried off, muttering something about it being a pleasure to serve him. The group ate in relative silence, gazes passing between the girls and several grins passing between James and Sirius. Lily was the first to finish her meal and almost the instant that her knife and fork were rested on the plate, Zenda appeared at her side again to clean up.

"Thanks," Lily said, "it was delicious!"

"You're very kind, Miss," said the small elf, smiling.

"Oh call me Lily!"

Zenda paused for a moment gazing thoughtfully at Lily, before saying, "Mr James is right, you are very pretty. He says it often, you see, Miss Lily." James stopped talking to Sirius upon hearing this and turned towards them, a mixture of embarrassment and sincerity on his face. The elf then leaned in so that only Lily could hear her and whispered, "he is very fond of you, you know," she then scurried off with a giggle.

Lily turned to look at James, who was still gazing at her. Their eyes met for one brief second, before both looked away.

"It's almost eight-thirty!" Maddie exclaimed suddenly. With that, the group rose and made their way back to the Great Hall, arriving just as Professor McGonagall began to hand out time-tables. James and Sirius took their seats once again beside Remus and Peter, who had been waiting patiently for their return. Lily, Jana and the other girls sat opposite them, more through the coincidental availability of seats than deliberate choice.

Once the younger students had their schedules sorted out, Professor McGonagall approached the seniors.

"Miss Evans," she addressed Lily, "Which subjects will you be taking this year?"

"Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Arithmancy," she replied immediately, having finalised this decision on her summer break.

"In light of your excellent exam results, there's no problems there," Professor McGonagall said, taking out a blank timetable and tapping it with her wand, so that it showed Lily's schedule.

"Thankyou Professor," Lily said, taking the parchment.

"What about you, Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, turning to James.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Astronomy and Muggle studies," he said.

"Alright then Potter, here you are, and I expect more conscientious behaviour from you this year, Professor Dumbledore has entrusted to you a large responsibility."

"Yes Professor, thankyou," James said, smiling at her.

Soon everyone's subjects were sorted out. Lily, Jana and Maddie all had potions with Professor Slughorn first, so, bidding farewell to Charlie and Tiffany, who had Care of Magical Creatures, they headed off in the direction of the dungeons.

Waiting outside the door to the classroom, it wasn't long before other students began to arrive. James, Sirius and Remus were amongst the first.

"Can I look at your timetable?" James asked, walking over to Lily.

"Yeah alright," she replied, handing it to him.

"Look Prongs! Except for Arithmancy, she's got the same as you," Sirius exclaimed, reading over James' shoulder. James nodded, smiling and handed it back to Lily.

Glancing down the corridor, Sirius nudged James, "hey…" he whispered almost maliciously, "look who it is."

Lily followed Sirius' gaze and was unhappy to see Severus Snape, flanked, as always, by Avery and Dolohov, walking toward them.

"Snivelly," Sirius finished.

"Padfoot! I told you…" James said warningly, surprising Lily greatly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, don't worry," Sirius replied somewhat dejectedly.

Severus looked at Lily as though he were feasting on the sight of her. Lily, feeling uncomfortable, shifted to stand behind Jana, just as the door to the classroom opened.

"Come in!" came a booming voice from within. Lily, Jana and Maddie took their usual seats in the front row as the large form of Professor Slughorn came into view. He stood behind his desk and surveyed the class.

"Welcome to senior potions!" he exclaimed to an audience who were less excited by the subject than he was, "today you will be making a tasteless sleeping draught in groups of two… which I will select," he added to the dismay of his class.

"Right then, Linche," he indicated to Jana, "and Dolohov," he nodded to one of the large Slytherine boys who had arrived with Severus.

"Snape and Black."

James snorted and had to work extremely hard to contain a fit of laughter. Sirius scowled and punched his friend in the shoulder before addressing Slughorn;

"But sir!" he exclaimed as though Slughorn were forcing him to do something truly unthinkable.

"I am choosing the partners Mr Black," the potions master said before moving on, completely oblivious of the intense glaring match that was now going on between Sirius and Severus.

"Brown," he pointed to Maddie, "and Avery."

Maddie groaned and hid her face in her hands.

"Lupin and Masen," Remus was paired with the Ravenclaw prefect who had been so affected by James' smile on the train. She smiled at him and he politely returned the favour.

"Evans and…" Slughorn scanned to room for somebody who did not yet have a partner, "Potter."

Lily sighed and Jana laughed quietly. Across the room, James turned to Sirius and whispered something that sounded like;

"Here goes nothing."

Lily felt sure that James would try to use this opportunity to seduce her. However, when Slughorn told the class that they could start, James walked over to where Lily was sitting and said, rather un-romantically;

"Can you heat the cauldron? I'm going to get the ingredients."

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Lily, mildly bemused by James' sudden onslaught of maturity.

"Great," James said, smiling. Lily was taken aback. She had never seen _this_ smile before. It was not his usual, cocky smirk, but a genuine expression.

It was not until James raised his eyebrow at her slightly that Lily realised she had been staring, unblinkingly at him.

"Sorry, uh... late night. Yeah, I'll just… " Lily busied herself with her cauldron, surprised and embarrassed by her inability to articulate.

"Sure, don't worry about it," he laughed as he went to collect the ingredients.

Despite her embarrassment, Lily sneaked several glances at James as he crossed the room to the ingredients cupboard. She scolded herself for being so rude, even to him. Lily turned back to her cauldron which was almost bubbling over and opened her textbook to page 207, which was headed, 'Disguising Draughts – How To Hide Your Handiwork.'

"I've got everything we need," James said, startling Lily slightly as he placed a variety of ingredients on the table.

Following the directions of page 207 exactly, James and Lily worked on their potion in near silence until they had, what Lily saw as, a perfect undetectable sleeping draught.

"Five minutes to go! Bring your potions to the front of the classroom!" Slughorn called. As James filled a vile with their concoction, Lily turned to see Sirius and Severus in a heated argument.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" Severus yelled at his partner.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought it said add one hair from the head of a slimeball," Sirius replied, smirking.

"I'm serious Black, if you…"

"Really? So am I!" Sirius was thoroughly enjoying driving Severus insane.

"Alright! That's it everyone," said Slughorn, just as James returned, taking his seat next to Lily.

"Let's have a look shall we?"

Slughorn moved along the line of flasks on his desk, making comments about the contents of each one as he went. At last he came to Lily's and James' potion.

"The pigmentation is perfect," he said, grinning, "See how it's not cloudy? It should look like glass; you know that it's undetectable when it has no colour at all."

"Whose is it? It's not labelled…"

"Oh shoot," James muttered as he and Lily slowly raised their hands.

"I should have guessed," said Slughorn, beaming at them.

"A lethal combination of talent if ever I saw one."

James grinned stupidly and seemed to enjoy the praise.

Finally, Slughorn came to the last vial on the table. The liquid it contained was deep brown and was giving off the foul stench of rotten egg.

"Oh dear. Black, Snape," Slughorn read off the label, "this really isn't good enough."

"It wasn't my fault Sir, Black was…" Started Severus but Slughorn cut him off.

"You were working as a team and so your are both equally responsible for what you produced. I sincerely hope you will do better next time." Just as he finished speaking, the bell for the end of class rag and everyone scrambled for the door.

"Miss Evans, Mr Potter," Slughorn called them back, "congratulations on your new positions of leadership! I don't think Professor Dumbledore could have made a better choice." Lily looked sideways at James and silently disagreed with this last statement. "The first Slug Club party of the term will be on the first Sunday of next month. I hope you will both be there." He said, smiling indulgently at the pair.

"I'll certainly try Professor," Lily said sweetly, smiling back.

"Yeah, uh… thanks Professor," added James.

"You had best get to your next lesson," Slughorn replied, still beaming.

Finally dismissed, James and Lily ran up the grand staircase to the third floor, tearing down the hall only just arriving in time for their transfiguration. Professor McGonnagle entered the room immediately behind them.

"Good morning everyone," she called as James took his seat beside Sirius and Lily took hers next to Jana. "Before we begin, I would like to make one thing very clear. You are all here because you are intelligent and have proven that you possess some sort of skill for this subject. You have shown that you are able to handle a higher level of work and I want to give you fair warning that Transfiguration this year will, in no way, be an easy subject. In preparation for your N.E., you will be given a lot of work and you will be expected to keep up with it all. I do no doubt that you are all capable, but some of you (she glanced at James and Sirius) generally have you minds on other things."

James smirked. He had been known to practice for Quidditch games months in advance but arrive at final exams without any preparation and still receive top marks. This both puzzled and irritated Lily and most of the staff.

"Alright everyone, copy down the information from the board and open your textbooks to page 146," Professor McGonnagle pointed her want at the chalk on her desk and it sprang to life, filling the blackboard with notes on the implications of turning inanimate objects into animals and vice versa.

It seemed to Lily that this class went extremely quickly. Before she knew it, Professor McGonnagle was setting them 12 inches of parchment on the projected results of turning a rat into a chair. The bell rang just a Lily was copying this down.

"I want to get an early start on this homework, come with me to the library?" Lily asked Jana as they left the classroom.

"Lil! Can't it wait until tonight? I'm starving!"

"Honestly, can't you think about something other than your stomach for five minutes? Come on, I'll be really quick."

Begrudgingly, Jana agreed and they walked up the four flights of stairs to the library. Leaving their things on one of the tables, the two girls proceeded to the appropriate section.

"Hey Lil?" Jana spoke as Lily searched for the book she needed.

"Mmmm…"

"Do you think there's something different about Potter this year?"

"Not really," Lily lied, not taking her eyes from the bookshelves.

"Hmm…" Jana thought for a moment, "He seems… well like less of a prick actually. He seems quite… gentlemanly?"

Lily snorted, "Jana, he's just _acting_ that way, it's the latest in a long line of schemes to entice me into going out with him."

"I guess you're right," Jana conceded, "he just seems so genuine this time."

"It won't last until the end of the term," Lily said with conviction, "trust me. Now come on, we'll be late to Charms.

Jana knew that Lily was most probably right and all James' previous behaviour supported this theory. However, there was still part of Jana, albeit a small part, that felt this latest change in James was something more.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! As always I encourage you to review! I appreciate and take on board all feedback. Cheers folks :)**


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